Electric toothbrush with controlled suction and irrigation

ABSTRACT

An electric toothbrush is provided for use by an operator. The electric toothbrush comprises a head including a plurality of bristles and at least one suction port, a handle coupled to the head, and a connector in fluid communication with the at least one suction port. The connector is configured to evacuate oral waste suctioned by the at least one suction port. The handle includes a user interface and a controller. The user interface is configured to receive feedback from the operator, and the controller is configured to actuate at least one of rotation, oscillation, and vibration of the bristles in response to the feedback from the operator through the user interface.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/133,254, filed Apr. 20, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/388,896, filed Sep. 29, 2014, which representsthe US National Stage of International Application No.PCT/US2013/034818, filed Apr. 1, 2013 which is based on and claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/617,975, filed Mar. 30,2012, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH

N/A.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present application is directed to electric toothbrushes. Inparticular, the present application is directed to electric toothbrushesdesigned to accommodate or compensate for a wide variety of impedimentsto oral hygiene, such as restricted range of oral motion or access, orimpediments to operation or interaction with traditional cleaningsystems and methods, for example, such as may be common withhospitalized people, people living in residential care facilities,bedridden people, and many other patients.

While providing oral hygiene to intubated patients is a technicalchallenge, doing so is vital for both patients' oral health and overallsystemic health and disease prevention. Oral care in an ICU environmentis difficult to perform due to physical barriers, such as endotrachealtubes, oral gastric tubes, and bite blocks, that hamper access to theoral cavity. A patient's inability to swallow or expel toothpaste and/orrinsing fluid presents yet another obstacle in providing oral care insuch environments.

Various oral care protocols are provided for ICU environments, thoughlittle evidence supports implementation of such protocols. For instance,manual toothbrushes have been proposed as the ideal method for promotingoral hygiene of orally intubated patients. Even though foam swabs appearto be inferior in removing oral debris and dried secretions compared tothe recommended manual toothbrush, many ICU nurses still use foam swabssince they require less dexterity to manipulate than a toothbrush. Usingfoam swabs and allowing additional build-up of oral debris and driedsecretions can lead to deterioration in a patient's oral health andincreased incidence of pneumonia.

Thus, despite the importance of providing effective oral hygiene for ICUpatients, effective, easy to use oral care tools for hospital orinstitutional environments are lacking. This is a major factor as to whyoral care protocols, as discussed above, are often incorrectlyimplemented or ignored altogether.

Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a toothbrush that minimizesthe manual dexterity necessary to clean the teeth and oral cavity of anintubated, hospitalized, or other patient or person in residential carefacilities. It would also be desirable to provide a toothbrush capableof instillation of rinsing agents and application of suction, so that asingle tool may be used to provide effective oral care.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks byproviding an electric toothbrush designed to accommodate or compensatefor a wide variety of impediments to oral hygiene, such as may be commonfor people that are hospitalized, people that are living in residentialcare facilities, and/or people that are debilitated. The electrictoothbrush includes a rotating and/or oscillating low profile head, atleast one suction port for vacuum suction, at least one irrigation portfor instillation of a rinsing fluid, and a user interface. The handle ofthe toothbrush provides access to the user interface configured tocontrol mechanical brushing operation of the bristles and to control thesuction port, as well as an injection port capable of receiving asyringe to transfer rinsing fluid through the toothbrush and out theirrigation port.

According to one implementation of the invention, an electric toothbrushis provided for use by an operator. The electric toothbrush comprises ahead including a plurality of bristles and at least one suction port, ahandle coupled to the head, and a connector in fluid communication withthe at least one suction port. The connector is configured to evacuateoral waste suctioned by the at least one suction port. The handleincludes a user interface and a controller. The user interface isconfigured to receive feedback from the operator, and the controller isconfigured to actuate at least one of rotation, oscillation, andvibration of the bristles in response to the feedback from the operatorthrough the user interface.

The foregoing and other aspects and advantages of the invention willappear from the following description. In the description, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in whichthere is shown by way of illustration a preferred embodiment of theinvention. Such embodiment does not necessarily represent the full scopeof the invention, however, and reference is made therefore to the claimsand herein for interpreting the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electric toothbrush in accordance withand/or for use with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial front view of the electric toothbrush of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electric toothbrush of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a partial front view of an electric toothbrush in accordancewith and/or for use with the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial side view of the electric toothbrush of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Generally, the present invention provides an electric toothbrushdesigned to accommodate or compensate for a wide variety of impedimentsto oral hygiene. The electric toothbrush includes a rotational and/oroscillating low profile head, at least one suction port for vacuumsuction, at least one irrigation port for instillation of a rinsingfluid, and a user interface. The handle of the toothbrush providesaccess to the user interface so that the electric toothbrush can becontrolled without undue dexterity or cumbersome interactions.

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate an electric toothbrush 10 according to oneimplementation of the invention. The electric toothbrush 10 can be usedto provide oral care despite any of a wide variety of impediments tooral hygiene, such as may be common for people that have beenhospitalized, people living in residential care facilities, and/orpeople that have been debilitated. The electric toothbrush 10 caninclude a head 12 with bristles 14, at least one irrigation port 16, andat least one suction port 18, and a handle 20 with an injection port 22and a user interface 25 configured to receive feedback from an operator.In some implementations, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the injection port22 is separate from the handle 20 and is positioned along a post 27 thatconnects the head 12 and the handle 20. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1and 3, the user interface 25 can include a timer button 26 forinitiating an internal timer. The handle 20 can also include aventilation port 24, which may be considered part of the user interface25. The electric toothbrush 10 can significantly improve oral health byremoving dental plaque, oral debris, and oral biofilm, while alsostimulating gingival tissues and providing oral moisturizers in patientswho are hospitalized, in residential treatment facilities, or otherwiseunable to perform oral self hygiene.

Brushing, irrigation, and suction by the toothbrush 10 can all beprovided through the head 12. Providing all three actions on a singletool makes it easier for an operator (for example, a nurse or other caregiver that may need to simultaneously attend to multiple tasks andcannot dedicate full attention and all available limbs) to perform oralcare on a patient. In this regard, the present invention stands incontrast to conventional oral care techniques that include separatesuction tubes, rinsing injectors, and toothbrushes. In oneimplementation of the invention, the head 12 can have a low profile (forexample, can be rounded, flatter, with shorter bristles 14, and/orsubstantially smaller than common manual toothbrush heads). This allowsfor easier insertion into a patient's mouth, especially for patients whohave difficulties opening their mouths due to a restricted range of oralmotion or have physical barriers, such as endotracheal tubes, oralgastric tubes, and bite blocks, that hamper access to the patient's oralcavity. In addition, the head 12 and/or the post 27 can be constructedof a pliable material (for example, instead of a hard plastic), whichcan help reduce damage to the patient's oral cavity during use.

In some implementations, the head 12 (or just the bristles 14) canoscillate, rotate, and/or vibrate during operation. Due to thismechanical action of the head 12, the need for manual dexterity onbehalf of the operator is significantly decreased in comparison to usinga manual toothbrush. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the irrigationports 16 can be interspersed between the bristles 14 on the frontsurface of the head 12 to instill an irrigant, or rinsing agent orfluid, into the patient's mouth near the head 12. The suction ports 16can be located along edges or side surfaces of the head 12 to provideon-demand suction of oral waste (such as the rinsing agent, toothpaste,saliva, and/or other oral debris). Some implementations of the inventionmay provide the bristles 14, the irrigation ports 16, and the suctionports 18 in relative arrangements other than what is shown in FIGS. 1-3.

Brushing, irrigation, and suction, as described above, can each beseparately controlled through the handle 20 without undue dexterity orcumbersome interactions. As such, the operator is further capable ofcontrolling and operating the toothbrush 10 primarily using a singlehand, which is not possible with many traditional systems. With respectto irrigation, the injection port 22, located at or near the handle 20,is in fluid communication with the irrigation ports 16 on the head 12(for example, through internal channels or tubing routed through thepost 27). A syringe filled with the rinsing agent (not shown) can becoupled to the injection port 22 so that the operator can expel some orall of the contents of the syringe through the injection port 22, andtherefore also through the irrigation ports 16. The injection port 22and the syringe can be an improvement over other toothbrushes thatinclude liquid reservoirs for rinsing agents because the liquidreservoirs can more easily harbor bacteria within the toothbrush. Theinjection port 22 and the syringe also allow on-demand use of additionalrinsing agent (for example, via additional syringes) while thetoothbrush 10 is in use.

With respect to suction, the handle 20 can be coupled to avacuum/suction device (not shown) by suction tubing 30 attached to asuction connection 31 of the handle 20, as shown in FIG. 1. Internaltubing can be routed from the suction connection 31, through the handle20, through the post 27, and to the suction ports 18 on the head 12. Theventilation port 24 is, for example, a tear drop-shaped port extendingthrough the handle 20 and into the tubing routed through the handle 20.As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the ventilation port 24 can be located alongthe handle 20 so that an operator's thumb can be used to selectivelyuncover or cover the ventilation port 24 and therefore selectivelyprovide or stop suction through the suction ports 18, respectively,again, using a single hand. In this regard, the ventilation port 24 canfunction as a further component in an overall user interface 25 that canbe readily accessed and communicated with through the handle 20. In somedesigns, the ventilation port 24 can be located at other positions alongthe handle 20 so that an operator's finger (that is, other than theoperator's thumb) can be used to selectively uncover or cover theventilation port 24. For example, in such designs, the ventilation portcan be located directly above or below the timer button 26.

As described above, the injection port 22 and the ventilation port 24provide separate, simple controls for providing suction and irrigationthrough the handle 20. In other implementations of the invention, thetoothbrush 10 can provide constant suction, or can include a differentarrangement, such as a switch actuated or electronic control, toselectively provide or stop suction. Further, the toothbrush 10 caninclude different arrangements or connectors on the injection port 22 toaccount for different syringe heads or other types of injectionequipment (for example, to accommodate screw-type connections, luer-locktype connections, needleless access connections, etc.).

With respect to brushing, mechanical operation of the bristles 14 can becontrolled through the handle 20. For example, the handle 20 can includean on/off switch (not shown) as part of the user interface 25 so that anoperator can turn on and shut off mechanical operation of the bristles14, again, by interacting with the single handle 20, such as can beachieved using a single hand. The on/off switch can be connected to aninternal controller 32 located within the handle 20. The internalcontroller 32 can be electrically coupled to the head 12 (for example,via electrical connections routed through the post 27) to actuatemechanical operation of the head 12.

Alternatively, or in addition to the on/off switch, the handle 20 caninclude the timer button 26, as shown in FIG. 1, connected to theinternal controller 32. The internal controller 32 can include aninternal timer and activates mechanical operation of the bristles 14 fora preset time period when the timer button 26 is pressed. Morespecifically, pressing the timer button 26 causes the controller 32 toactuate mechanical operation of the head 12 and/or the bristles 14 (thatis, rotation, oscillation, and/or vibration) for two minutes, inaccordance with current outpatient oral care standards, or another settime. In other words, the controller 32 is configured to start theinternal timer in response to predetermined feedback from the operator(that is, pressing the timer button 26), and the internal timer isconfigured to expire when the preset time period, such as two minutes,has passed. The controller 32 is configured to actuate mechanicaloperation of the head 12 when the internal timer is started and to stopactuation when the internal timer is expired. This can provide astandardized time that the operator should brush the patient's teeth,thus helping implement standardized protocols.

Also, the timer, the controller 32, and/or the mechanical parts forrotating and/or oscillating the bristles 14 can be powered by batteries28 located inside the handle 20, for example, in a user-accessiblebattery compartment 34. The batteries 28 can be replaceable, in whichcase the handle 20 can include a removable cover (not shown) forinsertion and removal of the batteries 28 within the batter compartment34. In some implementations, the batteries 28 can be rechargeable, inwhich case the handle 20 can include charging leads and can be pluggedinto a charging dock, or can include a charging port for receiving acharging plug.

As described above, the head 12 can have a substantially low profile andcan be substantially tapered from the handle 20. The low profile andtapered design can allow for easier use by an operator to provide oralcare to a subject or patient. In one example, the low profile can allowfor an operator to better provide oral care to an intubated patient.FIGS. 1-3 illustrate the head 12 with a round profile. FIGS. 4-5illustrate an electric toothbrush according to another implementation ofthe invention. The electric toothbrush 10 of FIGS. 4-5 can includesimilar components as the electric toothbrush of FIGS. 1-3, but with amore oval or rectangular profile head 12. In some implementations,mechanical brushing operations can include circular or lateraloscillation of the bristles 14 (that is, with either the round profileof FIG. 2 or the rectangular profile of FIG. 4). In addition, theelectric toothbrush 10 of FIGS. 4-5 includes a different shaped batterystorage compartment 34 and different user interface 25 placement.

One or more of the components described above can be disposable forsingle-time or multiple-time use. For example, in one implementation ofthe invention, the head 12 and the handle 20 can be removably coupledtogether, having relative connecting portions, so that the head 12 canbe detached from the handle 20 and disposed of after use and a new,clean head 12 can be connected to the handle 20 during the next use. Insome implementations, the head 12 and the post 27 can be one integralpiece (that is, the post 27 can be part of the head 12) and the post 27can be removably coupled to the handle 20 to allow detachment andreplacement of the head 12 after one or more uses. The suction tubing 30can also be detachable from the handle 20, as shown in FIG. 1, so thatthe electric toothbrush 10 can be used with different suction devices(for example, so that the operator only needs to transport the electrictoothbrush 10, rather than both the electric toothbrush 10 and thevacuum/suction device).

Furthermore, other components can be attached to the handle 20 and/orthe head 12 for additional oral care, such as a replaceable tonguescraper attachment (not shown). In some designs, a rear surface of thehead 12 (that is, relative to the front surface including the bristles14 and the irrigation ports 14 and the side surface including thesuction ports 18, as shown in FIGS. 1-5) can include a tongue scraperportion. In addition, some implementations of the invention can includedifferent combinations of the components described above. For example,the electric toothbrush 10 can be a suction-only toothbrush, includingonly the suction ports 18 rather than both the suction ports 18 and theirrigation ports 16, for use with patients requiring only suctionassistance during oral care.

The present invention has been described in terms of one or morepreferred embodiments, and it should be appreciated that manyequivalents, alternatives, variations, and modifications, aside fromthose expressly stated, are possible and within the scope of theinvention.

1. An electric toothbrush for use by an operator, the electrictoothbrush comprising: a head including a plurality of bristles and atleast one suction port; a handle coupled to the head, the handleincluding: a user interface configured to receive feedback from theoperator, and a controller configured to actuate at least one ofrotation, oscillation, and vibration of the bristles in response to thefeedback from the operator through the user interface; and a connectorin fluid communication with the at least one suction port and configuredto evacuate oral waste suctioned by the at least one suction port. 2.The electric toothbrush of claim 1, wherein the connector is configuredto be coupled to external tubing that receives the oral waste evacuatedfrom the connector.
 3. The electric toothbrush of claim 1, wherein thehead is removably coupled to the handle.
 4. The electric toothbrush ofclaim 1, wherein the user interface includes a button connected to thecontroller.
 5. The electric toothbrush of claim 4, wherein the button isan on-off switch.
 6. The electric toothbrush of claim 4, wherein thefeedback includes the operator pressing the button.
 7. The electrictoothbrush of claim 1 and further comprising a tongue scraper locatedalong a rear surface of the head.
 8. The electric toothbrush of claim 1,wherein the connector is located adjacent a bottom end of the handle. 9.The electric toothbrush of claim 8 and further comprising internaltubing routed from the connector through the handle.
 10. The electrictoothbrush of claim 1, wherein the at least one suction port is locatedalong a side surface of the head.
 11. The electric toothbrush of claim10, wherein the at least one suction port includes three suctions portslocated around the side surface of the head.
 12. The electric toothbrushof claim 1 and further comprising a post that couples the head to thehandle.
 13. The electric toothbrush of claim 12, wherein the post isintegral with the head and includes a tapered portion adjacent thehandle.
 14. The electric toothbrush of claim 12, wherein the postincludes an internal hollow channel.
 15. The electric toothbrush ofclaim 1, wherein the handle includes a removable cover.
 16. The electrictoothbrush of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to actuateat least one of rotation, oscillation, and vibration of the head inresponse to the feedback from the operator through the user interface.17. The electric toothbrush of claim 1, wherein the head furthercomprises at least one port configured to instill a fluid from the head.18. The electric toothbrush of claim 1, wherein the handle includes apower source configured to power the controller.
 19. The electrictoothbrush of claim 18, wherein the power source includes a rechargeablebattery.
 20. The electric toothbrush of claim 19, wherein the handle isconfigured to be plugged into a charging dock to charge the rechargeablebattery.